Avalanche
- Slab Width
- 9 m
- Weak Layer
- New Snow/Old Snow Interface
- Trigger Type
- Snowboarder
- Avalanche Type
- Soft Slab
- Slab Thickness
- 20 cm
- Trigger Detail
- Unintentionally Triggered
- Start Zone Aspect
- South
- Avalanche Problem
- New Snow
- Start Zone Elevation
- 2896 m
One splitboarder in our party triggered an avalanche in the Emma's today (technically "culps" on WBSkiing app). It broke on a steep convex rollover well above the rider, catching and briefly carrying them. The slide was about 8" deep at the tallest part of the crown, and approximately 30' wide. The avalanche ran until the flats, about 500' below.
Upon inspecting the crown, we discovered a thin sun crust under the new snow. The avalanche failed on this crust, signaling poor interface between the old/new snow. Given the slightly upside down snow, surface recrystallization and terrain feature, it wasn't unexpected. This layer may be something to watch out for going forward as it could potentially be problematic.
Last two photos are a different crown we noticed going uphill, assumed to have been triggered by another party.
Incident
- Number Caught
- 1
- Number Carried
- 1